34. Derek
“My man is rich bitch!” Georgia exclaims for the third time on the phone with the girls, rage-baiting them all as we pull up to the tarmac where my family's private plane is waiting to take us to Texas for spring break.
I chuckle as Sienna and Cleo each fall for the bait, the two of them bringing up both of their significant others.
“Mine has an NIL deal!” I hear Denver and Cleo say in unison, the two of them laughing as Jace’s voice calls something unintelligible in the background of Sienna’s call.
“Oh boo! Why would a man be there?!” Georgia asks with a groan, giving the phone a thumbs down as Jace’s face pops up on the screen. All three of the girls’ faces are soon replaced by the guys.
Jace holds the camera closer than ever to his face, smiling brightly as he says, “But did he decorate the plane for you?”
Georgia rolls her eyes as Sienna chuckles from behind him, snatching the phone away. She walks away with the phone, giggling as he chases her.
Cleo scrunches her nose. “Anyway, are you excited to be in Texas for the week? I know Deli is, she couldn’t stop talking about the horses when we babysat her a few days ago.”
Georgia’s eyes snap to mine, bright and curious as she mouths, “Horses?” at me.
I roll my lips in to suppress a laugh, careful to not wake Deli up in the back.
“Of course I’m excited! One full week in Texas with the fam, what could possibly go wrong?”
I can hear Cleo’s grimace from a mile away as she chimes in, “Girl, the last time I asked myself that I ended up finding out that my one-night stand was actually the captain of my dad’s hockey team.”
Sienna is next, chuckling as she adds, “I think the last time I asked myself that I ended up being ‘fired’ from work and found out Jace was my new boss.”
Georgia lets out a horrified squeal, looking between her friends. “What about you, Castillo?”
Denver chuckles. “I don’t think that I’ll ever ask that question, ever.”
Georgia and the girls each laugh at her response before sharing quick goodbyes and hanging up the phone.
The instant the call ends, Georgia turns to the back seat, her eyes bright as she and Delilah lock eyes.
Delilah begins giggling at the face Georgia makes for her.
Georgia’s own laughter rings throughout the car, and when she looks at me, that smile, clear in her eyes, makes my heart swell.
This is all I could’ve ever asked for right here—both of my girls in one place, laughing their hearts away.
Georgia Marie Adams looks like a fish out of water as she stands on my family's ranch, dressed in vintage designer clothing and her favorite oversized sunglasses. She pouts, her hands on her hips as she takes a look around before prancing over to me.
She looks like a cute doll; her hair is perfectly done in her signature blowout. Chuckling, I place a chaste kiss on her temple as she grins at me. “I was promised a tour, if I remember last night correctly, Mr. Perez.”
My mind travels back to the night before. Georgia lay on my chest, her fingers circling the tattoos splattered across my pecks and torso while we discussed our week-long vacation in Texas for spring break.
The entire time we talked—or should I say she talked—the only thing I could think about was how right it felt for us to lie there with her in my arms. I can barely remember if she told me what she wanted to do while here or if we talked about the weather.
She narrows her eyes at me, her gaze assessing before she groans, “You owe me a tour of the grounds and a margarita for forgetting we talked last night.”
I nod, chuckling lightly as I press two more kisses to her forehead. “I’ll throw in some cupcakes to the deal too.”
We leave Delilah with my mother in the main house. I’m careful not to let Georgia see any of the house before we begin the tour, and hop on one of the golf carts, driving it to the front gate.
When we stop directly outside of the gate, the sun begins to set behind the clouds, illuminating the gate’s words.
My skin warms as the words “Apolonia Ranch” read back at me.
I hop out of the golf cart to get a better look at the sign as Georgia follows behind.
I feel at home the second she grabs ahold of my hand, standing under my family's gate.
“My great-grandfather, Silvano, started the ranch when he immigrated from Jalisco to Texas. His papá was a charro, and he was a mean one—a charro is what you would call a horseman, not necessarily a cowboy, but similar. Tata and Nana were pregnant with Tío1 Juan when they immigrated to America to escape the Mexican Revolution,” I say, peering down at her from the corner of my eyes.
Georgia’s gaze is transfixed on the gate, her eyes dazzling as the sun sets.
“Who’s Apolonia?” she asks, her voice breathy as she points to the name of the ranch, her finger lingering on the small apple welded into the gate.
My smile feels warm as pride sears through.
“That would be my nana. She died at one hundred and two a few years ago. She would’ve loved you; she was obsessed with clothes and getting pretty.
Anyway, my Tata’s goal was to open his own ranch and to bring a new light to the charreria world here in Houston.
He and his family of immigrants paved the way for many, and we still give back to our community.
My older cousins Emiliano, Miguel, and Soledad still run the ranch with my abuelita2, Dolores—you’ll meet Lita in a few, that’s what us grandkids call her. ”
She gives me a wide-eyed grin; her eyes the size of saucers as she claps. “I can’t wait to meet everyone. What are we waiting for? Take me to your family!” she exclaims, bouncing on her toes as I chuckle.
“Not yet, darlin’... I have a few other places to show you first.”
Georgia and I ride throughout the grounds with her pointing at everything and questioning what it is.
It takes me about five minutes to get her to stop asking about the small chicken coop near the main house before we can continue on with our tour.
I take her around the pool, and we spend a few minutes staring out at the large man-made body of water before going past the tennis and basketball courts.
It takes us about five to six more minutes before we finally reach the place that I’ve been buzzing to show her since we arrived.
She gasps like a little kid on Christmas, hopping out of the golf cart before I can safely park it.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” Georgia exclaims, excitement riddling her tone as she runs toward the large stable.
She twirls around the front of the doors, her hair blowing in the wind as she giggles, “When I mocked you all those months ago—I knew I was right. You’re megawatt rich, Derek. Only rich people have horses!”
Chuckling, I shake my head. “No, my family is rich. I’m me.”
“Says the man who has an inheritance. All my dad left me was daddy issues.” She huffs before sashaying into the stable.
I’m not paying attention as I follow her, and when she comes to a halt in the middle of the stable, I walk straight into her back.
“What’s going on—”
A gruff voice cuts me off, and my ears buzz. “Well, I’ll be damned if it isn’t the best goalie in the United States,” my older cousin Emiliano drawls, his voice thick with that southern twang.
My face hurts from smiling as he pulls me into a hug, patting my back. Emiliano is like a dark horse; he’s competitive and quiet, yet always there for you when you need him. It’s been over a year since we last saw one another and two years since his life changed drastically.
You see, Emiliano’s also a single father, only he and his wife were married before she gave birth and ran off with some singer from Tennessee. Now, Emiliano’s raising his baby girl, Isabel, alone.
“How are you?”
His eyes speak a thousand words, but he doesn’t answer me; instead, he turns to Georgia and gives her the smile that I’ve grown to imitate as an adult.
He likes to call it the “E Look,” which is his way of saying a “panty-dropping smile.” I smack him upside the head, clenching my jaw lightly as he chuckles. “That’s my wife, Georgia.”
My cousin's eyes nearly bug out of his head, “Wife?!”
“Baby cousin, you’re home! I’ve been waiting to pick your brain about that ice sport you play.
You see, there’s this guy that I met, and he—who is this?
Is she lost? Emiliano… ?Quién es esta chica contigo3?
” Elena, my other older cousin, questions Emiliano.
Her southern accent might be the thickest of all of ours, which is surprising considering she spends most of her time in the city.
Elena flips her blonde hair over her shoulder before folding her arms with pursed lips, resembling her mom, Tía4 Carmen.
I give her a sheepish smile, putting an arm around Georgia’s shoulder.
Elena’s eyes nearly fall out of their sockets as she eyes the two of us, “This is your girlfriend?”
“?Su esposa5!” Emiliano exclaims as if he’s shared the golden ticket with Elena as she gasps.
Georgia chuckles awkwardly, looking between the three of us, causing Elena to frown.
“Tú no sabes?” Elena asks, her brow furrowed as I cringe.
“No sabes… She’s an English speaker. This is my wife, Georgia. Georgia, meet Emiliano, my oldest cousin, and Elena, the one who’s never home,” I say as Elena rolls her eyes before a bright smile takes over her face.
She walks around me, pushing me to the side before wrapping an arm around Georgia. My wife eyes me over my cousin's head as Elena begins to talk.
“Well, welcome to the family, Georgia. Treat my cousin right, okay? Derek looks broody, but he is a softy—I’m not.”
Oh, dear God…
“And that’s enough ‘Elena time’ for tonight… I was trying to show Georgia around the grounds,” I say, taking my wife back as she chuckles, relaxing under my arm.
Elena and Emiliano share a look, and even though they’re cousins, they resemble one another more than their own siblings as they give us a smile.
“Well, looks like you’re in the right place.
This here is the Apolonia stable. We have one black stallion, Shooter.
Two American Quarters, one Azteca, an Arabian, a Shetland, and two Thoroughbreds,” Emiliano says, gesturing to each horse before stopping in front of a familiar stable, the one horse he didn’t mention.
“Nora,” I say, my smile can be seen from the moon as I jog over to the Dutch Warmblood that has been my horse since she was a pony.
She neighs and purrs as I pat her snout.
Georgia stands a few feet away, the glimmer in her eyes evident as she watches my horse and me.
I gesture her over, and she comes in an instant, her hand reaching out to pet Nora.
“This is my horse, Nora. She’s also the reason that I haven’t ridden any other horses since I left for college,” I say, chuckling as Nora neighs. Emiliano passes me an apple from his sack, and I grin as Nora chomps it up.
“We like to make sure that all of our horses are properly maintained, which is why they’re my priority,” he tells Georgia, gesturing to the vast room of animals. She nods as he continues, explaining each breed to her.
We spend about twenty minutes in the stable with Elena and Emiliano before my cousins, Soledad and Miguel, come to fetch all of us for dinner.
Lita made molletes with pastelitos for dessert, and it’s safe to say that both of my girls loved it. It feels good to be back home and surrounded by the people that I love. Soledad and Elena have practically taken my wife hostage while the guys and I have been catching up.
The air in the main house is lively with chatter and music. Lita’s been cooking nonstop as more and more people come down to the main house for food, and soon enough, more than half of our neighbors are here, chatting and eating molletes.
Georgia’s glowing as she and my cousins talk. Somewhere along the way, she’d convinced both Elena and Soledad to rock sunglasses with her, and now the three look like the three blind mice as they joke around with one another.
Delilah and her cousins, Cristal and Isabel, play throughout the house, chasing one another, giggling everywhere.
I couldn’t ask for a more perfect start to a great vacation, but I need some air. It’s been so hectic these past few weeks that I haven’t even gotten the chance to be alone with my thoughts.
The second I step outside, I feel better. The warm April air is a bit chilly tonight, but the stars are out shining.
This is what I miss about living in Texas—not the food or rodeo, but the sky.
Here, especially on the ranch, I can see any and every constellation up above.
Sucking in a deep breath, I stalk toward the first house slightly off the path to the main house and lie flat on my back in the grass, staring up.
I let my brain breathe whenever I’m out here, clearing it completely. Out here, I can be one with myself and nature. Out here, I’m not a dad or a husband… I’m just Derek.
Sucking in a deep breath, I sigh as the sound of boots crunching in the grass alerts me to Georgia approaching.
She sighs wistfully. “I love your family.” She plops down in the space right next to me and gets comfortable as she lies down.
“They love you too,” I reply, smiling as she twists to face me. “Ah ah ah… eyes up there, Blondie.”
Georgia scoffs, but she does as told, turning to look up at the sky. She sighs, shifting a bit, her perfume clouding the air between us.
It’s silent for a moment, the two of us gazing at the stars above before Georgia shifts in her spot, twisting to face me. I meet her gaze, our eyes trained on one another as she grins shyly.
“Thank you for showing me your home. I’ve never experienced something like this… I don’t know, everyone made me feel…” She searches for the words but comes up blank.
“Loved?”
She hums, nodding.
“That’s because you are.”
She holds my gaze for a second, her eyes shine like emeralds under the starlight as a small smile breaks on her face, and she blushes. “Thank you, you are too.”
We’re like teenagers on our first date, sharing shy smiles and sneaky glances when we think the other isn’t looking. We point out the different clouds and constellations in the sky, giggling as we make up different names for each one.
Georgia makes me feel things I haven’t felt before, and though it’s scary for someone to have this kind of hold on me, I’m happy that person is her.
1 Tío (Spanish)– Uncle
2 Abuelita - Grandma
3 ?Quién es esta chica contigo? – Who is this girl with you?
4 Tía – Aunt
5 Su Esposa (Spanish) - His wife